Understanding the spring cloud onset  over the Arctic sea-ice

Lac, Jean; Chepfer, Hélène; Shupe, Matthew D.; Griesche, Hannes

doi:10.5194/acp-26-4189-2026

Articles | Volume 26, issue 6

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-4189-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-4189-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 26, issue 6

Research article

|

26 Mar 2026

Research article |

| 26 Mar 2026

Understanding the spring cloud onset over the Arctic sea-ice

Jean Lac, Hélène Chepfer, Matthew D. Shupe, and Hannes Griesche

Data sets

Custom collection of categorize, classification, ice water content, lidar, and liquid water content data from RV Polarstern between 1 Oct 2019 and 1 Oct 2020 R. Engelmann et al. https://doi.org/10.60656/59216bca3a304156

MOSAiC Cloud-net issue data set (1.1) H. J. Griesche and P. Seifert https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15675285

ERA5 hourly data on pressure levels from 1940 to present H. Hersbach et al. https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.bd0915c6

Short summary

Satellite observations show that Arctic spring experiences a rapid increase in liquid-containing clouds over sea ice. Our study shows that this transition is mostly driven by warmer temperatures in early spring than in late spring, favoring more liquid clouds formation, rather than a limited moisture source in early spring. It suggests that, in the future, this transition is likely to occur earlier in spring considering the rapid Arctic warming.